Big names face Ligue 1 bullet

Paris – Two of France’s great footballing institutions stand on the brink of relegation from Ligue 1 with Bordeaux and Saint-Etienne sitting in the bottom two before today’s final matches of the season.

For Bordeaux the game is effectively up already, as they sit three points adrift of Metz in the relegation play-off place and with a considerably worse goal difference.

A win away at mid-table Brest would be unlikely to save them even if other results go their way.

Saint-Etienne are level on points with Metz and trail them by just six goals, meaning there is still greater hope.

They go to French Cup winners Nantes today, while Metz must go to champions Paris Saint-Germain.

Whoever finishes third-bottom will have another chance to secure top-flight survival in a play-off against the winner of the Ligue 2 play-off between Auxerre and Sochaux.

This has been coming for Bordeaux and Saint-Etienne, two iconic clubs with 16 league titles between them.

Bordeaux were champions as recently as 2009 and Champions League quarterfinalists the following year, but decline soon set in despite a move to a new stadium in 2015.

Les Girondins went into administration last year when American financial group King Street decided they wanted out, and a sale to former Lille owner Gerard Lopez has not helped turn the tide.

On the pitch they have been a shambles, with ex-Switzerland coach Vladimir Petkovic appointed in the summer and sacked in February.

His replacement, David Guion (above), has overseen just one win, and they have conceded an astonishing 89 goals this season.

Supporters mocked their team by throwing toilet roll onto the pitch in last Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Lorient which all but sealed their fate.

“When you don’t work hard at school you end up having to repeat a year,” former Bordeaux star, and France World Cup winner, Bixente Lizarazu told Le Parisien.

He said Lopez was “responsible for recruiting players and coaches but also for creating a good working environment, which has been far from the case. Everything put together has led to this disaster.”

The last time Bordeaux went down was in 1991, when they finished 10th but were demoted due to their debts and came straight back up.